James A. Patton, a farmer from Granville County, North Carolina, was twenty-four when he enlisted as a volunteer on February 22, 1862. He was mustered into Company G, 47th North Carolina Regiment, on April 11, 1862. His wife, Belle H. Patton, continued to manage the family farm in Pattonsville (about three miles west of Tabbs Creek, now in South Vance County; the settlement no longer exists). Along with Patton's younger brother, Buck Patton, she managed routine affairs as well as the rearing of her infant son Josephus ("Seaf"). Sharing the house or living nearby were Patton's father, and his sisters Ann and Jane. Another brother, Nicole B. Patton, lived in Milton, North Carolina. Patton and Belle named their second child [b. early 1863] after Nicole. Patton served as a private in North Carolina and Virginia. He spent much time in and out of the "Wayside Hospitals," however. At one point, he was a cook at the Second North Carolina Hospital in Petersburg, Virginia. He was in the hospital when his company was sent to Gettysburg, and fortunately so, since nearly all of the officers and a great many of the enlisted men were killed. Patton was court-martialed on November 4, 1863 (proceedings available on National Archives Microfilm, G.O. No. 97-7), but he evidently never told his family about it. His letter written the same date as the court-martial, reports, "I have no news of importance to write at present." Patton was in the hospital January and February, 1864; he died March 3, 1864 at Gordonsville, Virginia, of dysentery.
From the description of James A. Patton letters, 1862-1864. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 78689585
